The film industry is continuing to adjust after the devastating effects of the Sony DADC warehouse fire.
Destroyed during the London riots, the loss of the Sony DADC warehouse in Enfield has almost crippled independent music in this country. However reports have paid less attention to the damage done to Britain’s film industry.
In addition to acting as a distribution point for countless independent labels, the Sony DADC warehouse worked with numerous film companies. Housing their stock at the Enfield site, the damage has therefore spread to the film industry.
Network Distributing is Britain’s largest independent film distribution company. Large enough to absorb the shock caused by the blaze, the firm are nonetheless bracing themselves for some difficult months.
“Whilst the loss of stock (and mercifully only stock) is regrettable, I’m happy to reassure everyone that the interruption in supply will be short term and is the only aspect of the business affected” explained Managing Director Tim Beddows. “Whatever was lost that night is completely replaceable as we have asset backup for all our projects.”
“As the manufacturing base is elsewhere, replication is also unaffected but it will, however, take a while to replenish the catalogue. As you will appreciate, demand for services is currently at a premium but the staff and management of Sony are working tirelessly to action their contingency plans to restore all services as quickly as possible in what are exceptional circumstances. We are very happy to pledge our continued support for them.”
Elsewhere, Beddows thanked fans for expressing their concern at the shocking events. “We’d like to thank all those customers who’ve contacted Network to express their concern at our wellbeing – please be assured that we’re not going anywhere.”
Read the full statement HERE.
ClashMusic and Network had teamed up for the premiere of ‘The Taqwacores’ – a fascinating insight into America’s burgeoning Muslim punk rock scene. A very different take on the standard ‘coming of age’ tale, the premiere was due to take place in Brixton’s Ritzy venue on Tuesday (August 9th).
Live music and DJ sets had been lined up, including a set from Transglobal Underground’s G-Man – however due to the riots the event was postponed.
The fire has had wide ranging effects across the film industry. The Guardian reports that distributor Guerilla Films have lost some 60,000 DVDs in the fire. “Most of the people in the independent film world have been hit,” said David Wilkinson.
“Companies larger than mine will have cashflow problems. I have spoken to friends who say they may have to lay off people, because DVDs keep the business going”.
